Travel Guide To Santa Fe

Located in the spectacular state of New Mexico, Santa Fe is a high desert oasis, 7,000ft above sea level, surrounded by stunning red cliffs and sweeping desert moonscapes. Renowned for its arts, adobe architecture and Spanish, Mexican and Native American heritage, Santa Fe is a fascinating place to visit. As state capital, it is home to some world-class museums, excellent restaurants and shops selling everything from chic jewellery to cowboy boots and saddles.

Where to stay in Santa Fe

THE INN OF THE ANASAZI

113 Washington Avenue (00 1 505 988 3030; fax: 988 3277). With its sleek South-west style rooms, four-poster beds and traditional kiva fireplaces, this is considered to be the best hotel in town. See Where to eat. ££

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THE BISHOP'S LODGE

Bishop's Lodge Road (00 1 505 983 6377; fax: 989 8739). Three miles out of town in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this family resort has been around since 1918. £

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Where to eat out in Santa Fe

Outside New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans, Santa Fe is possibly the best ‘eating town' in the US.

THE BURRITO COMPANY

111 Washington Avenue (00 1 505 982 4453). The Burrito Company is close to the historic plaza district, where most of the main shops are located, and makes a very good pit-stop between shopping assignments. Try a combo adovada (very lean pork or beef wrapped in a crispy taco), a chalupa (taco salad with beans, cheese and salsa) or an enchilada served with refried beans, rice and a choice of fresh red or green chilli sauce.

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GERONIMO

724 Canyon Road (00 1 505 982 1500). The prettiest restaurant in Santa Fe with pristine, white, open fireplaces in both rooms and an elegant bar. It's at its best at lunchtime when there are fewer people.

JULIAN RESTAURANT

221 Shelby Street (00 1 505 988 2355). For a change from South-western cooking, this is the Italian restaurant to try. Pretty room and good food.

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For a rather more expensive view of the area, take a balloon trip over the Rio Grande. Costs about $600 and can be organised through the Inn of the Anasazi (00 1 505 988 3030).

TESUQUE

Nine miles south from Santa Fe, off the US-84 highway. The small village of Tesuque is the ideal place to head for a hike or nature trail. While you're there, check out the Tesuque Village Market, where you'll find breads, biscuits, jam, ropes of chillis, fruit, coffee and tea. There's a bar next door serving delicious Margueritas.

TAOS

Take the one-hour road trip to the Native American village of Taos, the city of light, known as the 'perfect place to paint' and colonised by artists such as DH Lawrence and Willa Cather. The twin-belfried Church of San Francisco de Asis, built around 1815, is one of the world's most photographed churches, notably by Georgia O'Keeffe's husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Horse Feathers (109b Kit Carson Road; 00 1 505 758 7457) is an old antique shop run by Lindsey and Nancy Enderby selling cowboy curios, Native American blankets and pottery.

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TEN THOUSAND WAVES

3451 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe (00 1 505 982 9304). Ten Thousand Waves is a Japanese health spa three and a half miles out of town, where you can spend the day being wrapped, pummelled, scraped, oiled and showered. Indulge in facials, herbal wraps, salt glows and an East Indian massage. The spa also has the latest aromatherapy and beauty ranges, beautiful kimonos, sandals and room essences. Everything, in other words, to make you feel relaxed. Reservations essential.

SKIING

In the winter, head to the Santa Fe's ski 12,000ft resort, 25km from the Plaza downtown. With 600 acres of terrain and 43 trails of varying levels of difficulty, the resort is popular with skiers, snowboarders and families. The season runs from November to April.

Where to shop in Santa Fe

JEWELLERY

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The Rainbow Man, 107 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe (00 1 505 982 8706). The Rainbow Man stands out as memorably authentic in a town filled with forgettable modern jewellery shops selling turquoise and coral set in old Indian designs. This shop opened in 1945, in a house dating back to the 1600s. The original owners enjoyed good relations with Native Americans (the Rainbow Man is known as a protector in Indian mythology) and the current owners have built up an impressive collection of Indian 'pawn', as older jewellery from the 1800s to the 1940s is called: coral crucifixes, silver and turquoise bracelets, rings, belts and amulets ranging in price from $50 to $5,000. Rainbow Man also houses an important collection of folk-art and a huge body of work by the 20th-century photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis, who recorded North American peoples and their way of life.

La Bodega, 667 Canyon Road (00 1 505 982 8043). La Bodega doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's the only other shop in town where you'll find really extraordinary jewellery. The owner, Teal McKibben, is an expert on tribal arts. Her wooden cabinets are stuffed with incredible silver and turquoise bracelets in antique and modern designs. McKibben, an impressive figure with waist-length dark hair and rings on every finger, is a breath of fresh air in the rather hyped artistic atmosphere of Santa Fe.

CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES

Nathalie, 503 Canyon Road (00 1 505 982 1021). Nathalie stocks cowboy and cowgirl clothes and accessories and is owned by Nathalie Kent, a former fashion editor at French Vogue. She stocks jewellery, vintage and new suede shirts and trousers, custom-made boots, as well as one-off items such as a silver-mounted parade saddle. Nathalie's boyfriend, Lenny Spurlock, a horse-hair artist, has an adjoining studio. Using a craft passed down from the Spanish Moors, he weaves dyed horse-tail hair into intricate designs for belts, whips and bridles. He looks like Marlboro Man and is very entertaining.

Desert Son, 725 Canyon Road (00 1 505 982 9499). Desert Son specialises in leatherwear for elegant townie cowboys rather than ranchers. It's a treasure-trove of hand-made boots, shoes, hats and jackets, with subtle cowboy designs you can wear anywhere without looking like an idiot. The staff are fantastically knowledgeable and will advise you on shoe lasts, heel sizes and leather care.

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MARKETS

Sante Fe Flea Market, seven miles north of Santa Fe on Interstate 25. If you only have time for one shopping experience, go to the Santa Fe Flea Market near the majestic mountain range of Sangre de Cristo (blood of Christ) mountain range, named after the spectacular sunsets in the area. Over 300 vendors sell antiques, rugs, jewellery and, best of all, old Mexican furniture such as wrought-iron beds and carved wooden doors. Indian 'pawn' is half the price charged in shops, cow-hides go for less than $200, and the second-hand cowboy gear is the best around.

The best way to get around Santa Fe

Rent a car at Albuquerque airport (a four-wheel drive if you want to go in winter and want to get off-road in the countryside) to drive the 100km north to Santa Fe. Car hire is not expensive. It is a good idea as there are few taxis to be found.